New-home sales up in August
New-home sales rose for newly built single-family homes in August, up 0.7 percent from July to August, according to the Census Bureau (click here to download full report). This is the fifth month in a row that the Census Bureau has reported numbers in sales that were increasing and inventories that were decreasing from month-to-month. According to Inman News, the increase may be caused by the federal tax credit, low interest rates and falling prices. The median price of a new home was $195,200, a 9.5-percent decrease from July to August. This marks the first time this price has fallen below $200,000 since the downturn began.
Related news:
—Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says the market appears to be stabilizing. (click here).
—The New York Times: “Home sales have been edging higher over the last few months as lower prices, affordable mortgage rates and a tax credit for first-time home buyers have drawn buyers back to open houses.” (click here)
—This is the largest month-to-month decline on record, according to an economic report on Market Watch
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—Kimberly Turner
